Clear bra install woes - Is it that hard?
 

Had tint and a clear bra installed today on my virgin FR-S (500 miles). It didnt turn out too good - and the place was highly recommended on several ferrari, porsche and high end car forums.

Is our car really that difficult? They used a precut XPEL template and it appears they over stretched some areas causing tearing on the bottom of the bumper. Also lots of fitment issues where it isn't properly lined up and stuff.

Nice bubble and poor fitment
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-M...226_184005.jpg

Tough to see - but what looks like a scratch is a few rips/tears in the film and above it is a huge gap below the fog light area where the film should cover
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-z...226_183913.jpghttps://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-_...226_183823.jpg

Sweet, a hair or string under the bra
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-C...226_183619.jpg


Thankfully the tint looks good

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-X...226_125918.jpg

They're saying they will fix it Friday - they haven't seen it yet. Im sick to my stomach though as I am quite picky with my cars.

love the color with the tint windows.. yeah same here picky about stuff but nothing is perfect in this world.. i just had a nice tiny minor dent from the other day me and my dad kind of bump each other and now i have tiny minor scratch/dent that i fixed/covered up...

my car is butt naked.. have tiny minor chips on my front bumper and tiny hits on my windshield.. nothing is perfect something will always happen new or old car or anything else....

but yeah that should be re worked if your not satisfied..

yeah im getting my tint re worked at the dealer but been lazy and trying to avoid that place where i got my car.. i asked about getting my alarm set up and asked if i need an appointment they said no just come in will get it done quick.. got there they said i need appointment and said alarm guy leaves at 4:30pm.. what a was of time and gas.. now they offer me 5 detail was for free i said no.. :popcorn: just want to get my tint re worked and alarm set up and try not to come back to that dealer and im doing my own oil change screw them even if its free..

Yeah it definitely is annoying - the time waste is even more annoying. Funny enough I walked 2 miles each direction after dropping it off and to go pick it up today in dress clothes - that right there was enough to annoy me.

Im hopeful they will fix it, but expecting them not to. At which point I may just say f it and peel it off and go naked.

Silver + dark tint always looks good :) My old IS300 and my wifes current Rav4 agree :)
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...29968939_o.jpg
http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...2051_682_n.jpg

nice all match.. but the frs/gt86/brz is sexier :wub: yeah go see what they will do for you.. i read something about clear bra makes like a yellow tinting after a while due to expose to sun after a while.. speaking of yellowing/UV i need to apply or get something for my front/rear lights to protect that sun burning fade.. i cover my lights with a rag:bonk: sometimes..


the other cars have clear bra too? i was thinking of doing it to my frs but i was like eh things will happen cant avoid..i just look way ahead of traffic and make sure no trucks crapping gravel all over the freeway..just have to be careful as must as possible :burnrubber:

you should sand blast the frs wheels to silver like someone did on this forum looks nice.. i wish the rims was not 2 tone just one color.. i like the metallic dark gray look...would look good with your silver frs and tint and dark rims

Can't believe they let the car leave with that bubble. If a bubble that size was anywhere it should've been taken care of, especially this one though cause it was up on top in a spot anyone walking by can see

No doubt. Just sloppy. Im sure the guy that was there before me with his GT3RS Porsche would not have allowed that. :barf:

The bubble is actually the least of your worries, I think. If this is a new install (less than 14 days), the bubble will likely disappear. Like tint, ppf is installed wet, so the solution will evaporate for some time. On the other hand, the way that piece of film was lined up with the fender is pretty nasty, and the hair/string is, well...not good.

Yeah, I'm planning to push to have the entire job redone. the alignment of the film is just piss-poor not even to mention the other crap.

Just think - these guys install on 250k+ valued cars all day long. WTF.

while minor particles getting stuck under the film is understandable (i mean, it's next to impossible to avoid unless the film gets installed in a paint booth), that fitment is not. i'd have to redo it or refund the money for someone who can do it.

I had a bubble too. But its and easy fix. Just need a hypodermic. Needle and time of liquid solution

I have clear bra on mine and its similar to yours, smaller gaps though, and without the hair and bubbles of course because I would be pissed.

Yeah that's the plan. I'm not settling for poor fitment when they advertise perfection.

Found a big scratch in the vinyl side of my drivers seat too. Ugh

Wow... what a bummer.. pics of it?

Yeah this is what I fear when taking my car to the dealer or someone else to get a job done.. to them its just another car another dollar is all they care about.. have to find a good dealer or person that baby the car like its theirs. .

I got jack before at a shop.. my tools was gone on my ex gf car when we got the car back:paddle:

I feel for you, brother!! I took my new black BRZ that I picked up yesterday to get a clear bra put on, and the installer found an imperfection in the clearcoat that he said would result in a bubble in the film, so he couldn't do it today. Long story short, I'm going to pay a professional detailer to polish it out along with the rest of the hood/fenders next week the same day the clear bra is put on. I also found out I had a couple of rock chips in only 200 miles. Leaving the shop today with no protection, and knowing that my brand new car has to be "fixed" left me with a sick stomach too! I've been dreaming about this car, and now that I have it, I can't drive it (the roads have a lot of salt down right now, as we were just snowed on hard a couple of days ago). Good luck with getting your clear bra fixed!

that kit can be a pain in the ass. But yea its possible that the bubble will disappear as the adhesive sets. as far as the hair goes. it happens more than you think.. Especially w arm hair, eyelashes threads from clothing. During the installation you dont notice it cause evverything is wet. Its when it dries that it becomes noticeable. But you cant prevent anythng from being airborne even in an enclosed shop.

:eyebulge::eyebulge::eyebulge::eyebulge::eyebulge: :eyebulge::eyebulge:

These guys went SO FAR above and beyond to fix this, the owner of the shop did the correction him self. They pulled the first kit off and re-did the entire kit with better film (i paid for venture shield, they put 3m self healing top of the line stuff).... and did a full hood instead of only partial.

The lines are perfect now, no imperfections, it is absolutely amazing. Literally, the guy that was there having his windows tinted on his ferrari decided to have his 400k+ car clear bra'd just because of how good my car looked.

Amazing.

I don't have any bubbles, tares, or any dirt/hair under the clearbra, but I do have the same fitment issues. I just live with it.

Sounds like the shop took care of the issues.

Shifter, what shop did you use? I'm looking into getting a clear bra, and after the way they went about rectifying, sounds like they are good people, just had a bad day.

The guy I use up here loads the pre fab template into the computer then extends all edges 3/8". Then sends it over to the cutter. That way he cuts all the edges and wraps around where possible. Mine looks flawless. Full hood and full fenders as well. No partial crap. Xpel as well.

I'm glad to hear this worked out and even more glad to hear that you let us all know. It's easy to complain when something goes wrong. When the company makes good and corrects thier mistakes I almost feel it's MORE important to post that. It shows they stand behind their product and reputation. In the car industry reputation is EVERYTHING.

I recently had my whole front bumper, headlights, led's, fog lights, whole front fender, and whole hood clear bra'd.

I had the front bumper and lights done within an hour of picking up the car in San Diego as I was driving to AZ the same day, I couldn't drive 400 miles having it exposed. He used XPEL self-healing products that were computer cut. FLAWLESS INSTALL. He even folded the material around the bumper edges so you couldn't even see it.

Full hood and full front fenders were done back in Arizona, used 3M material, was hand cut due to the size of it, folded around the edges, flawless install as well.

Words of wisdom:
1: Clear bra material that was shipped to the installer pre-cut is most of the time the lesser quality material that is known to yellow over time, spider web, peel back, and damage the clear coat. Plus it was pre-cut to be easier to install by less experienced people which means gaps are huge. RUN AWAY FROM FACTORY-CUT INSTALLERS.

On the flip side, installers that are good can use pre-cut templates that they download themselves from 3rd parties that have measurements that cover any gaps and can go around edges to hide the lines.

2: General consensus says XPEL Ultimate > 3M > SunTek > Others. XPEL has a 10 year warranty for defects, 3M a 5 or 7 year, SunTek unknown (didn't use it). However, XPEL is the "only" material that self heals, so the person who said 3M self heals lied to you, 3M's website itself does not say their material self-heals.

XPEL Self Healing: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_35MvglrLgI"]XPEL Ultimate Paint Protection Film - Clear Bra Self Healing Demo - YouTube[/ame]


3: Pricing varies, but based on the quotes I've had and the final prices I've paid, you can expect and haggle on pricing depending on how much you do (I saved about $250 by packaging full hood, fenders and full window tint package)
Front Bumper: my cost $400, general quote $500-700
Full Hood: my cost $600, general quote $700-800
Front Fenders: my cost $400, general quote $500-700

All in all: full hood, fenders, front bumper plus 2 layers of tint (3M FX over 3M Cyrstalline) was $2000. Well worth it, and I intend on doing the doors and rear side fenders as well!

Tell me you wouldn't want to protect the full hood on a BRZ/FRS! Have you seen how big the hood is on the car?

I don't want to start yet another debate about ppf brands, but I want to make it clear that Xpel is not the only ppf that self heals. Ventureshield Ultra (owned by 3m) and Suntek will both self heal. They all have other issues, and research is the key to making an informed decision - but it is widely accepted amongst all ppf installers I know that all three films will self heal to some degree.

i have ventureshield on my other car. holding up great, its been 3 years. we did xpel on the frs. down the road it will be nice to be able to compare the two.

I have a ventureshield setup on my FRS as well, but the installer did a horrible job -- there's folds and uneven holes everywhere. he also ran some of it over my side marker which i'm quite unhappy about. But the tint was nice looking -- there's a small piece of lint in the back of the film that I feel like I want to pierce and pull out, but I don't know if I should at this point. I'll see this weekend what I can do with a needle.

I'll have pics posted of my horrible install -- my guy had finger prints all over as well =/

Auto supershield in Boca.

Id use them again any day. Awesome guys and everything still looks great

The work in the first post is disgraceful. I am glad they fixed it properly!

Oh boy, you think that's bad -- I'll have pics up here later =)

Funny thing is the place I had install my tint and clear bra did a bang up job on the clearbra. its damn near perfect, and I harped on them the entire time they had it about not using a razer. I get it, its perfect....then I get home and look at the tint, razer gashes ALL over the weatherstripping on my doors.

And thats why I dont trust ppl with my shit, IDC if it takes me 2 months to learn how to do something to my car. Short of painting or tuning, I'll be doing all the work myself.

i'm lucky enough to live near the absolute best in the country for PPF and tint: http://www.premiermobilegroup.com/

pricey, yes. but their craftsmanship is second to none. anybody in California should give them a ring if you're looking for perfection.

i had a small bubble in mine too, bring it back. they will fix it using a hypothermic needle

I just got mine "professionally" done and had the same issues as you did. Very disappointed in the work when compared to some other owners cars on this forum...oh well, at least it is still protecting the car.